Big Ten Network to finally be available on cable?

The Sports Business Journal has reported this week that the Big Ten Network and Comcast haveÂ put togetherÂ the frameworkÂ for an agreementÂ to carry the BTN on Comcast.

Such an agreement – although itÂ would come too late for this basketball season -wouldÂ bringÂ an endÂ toÂ theÂ situation that has frustratedÂ and angered cable subscribersÂ with many Indiana basketball and football gamesÂ not availableÂ on cable.

The agreement with Comcast would put theÂ BTN on expanded basic cable, according to the story, butÂ itÂ could still takes weeks or even monthsÂ for this to happen as negotiators work out the details of the deal.

Comcast has 5.8 million customers andÂ has justÂ become the cable provider in the Bloomington area. Â Â

2 comments

“For a solid 15 minutes, the BTN stayed there, for the trophy presentation, speeches from Barry Alvarez and Bo Ryan, etc… This was an example of the network giving more coverage than ever before — you never would have seen that on one of the old ESPN Plus broadcasts.”
-A blog post by Lansing State Journal sportswriter Joe Rexrode (March 7)

Note they fail to mention we used to see the games themselves on ESPN Plus broadcasts.